Blain woman to mark milestone

Johanna Kaseberg of Blain will turn 100 on Nov.
30. Listening to her stories it becomes apparent the triple-digit
milestone, while remarkable, is the least of her achievements.

Born Johanna Wagner in 1905 in Dresden,
Germany, she came to America in 1928 for what was supposed to be a
five-year stint at a higher-paying job.

Her daughter, Erika Naugle, said she
remembered hearing her mother tell stories about payday in Germany.
Employers would give their workers extra time to get to the bank because
money was devaluing so quickly. Paychecks could lose value at an hourly
rate.

In Germany, she was a milliner,
specializing in ladies hats. “My plan was to go back to Germany,” said
Kaseberg. Then Hitler’s rise to power and the American Depression both
kept her in the United States.

Instead of millinery work, Kaseberg became
a maid of sorts in the household of the president of New York Life
Insurance Co. She took care of the dining and sleeping areas of the
house and recalled that she had a chance to meet Mrs. Thomas Edison,
when she was a guest at the house.

Kaseberg’s husband, Walter, was a hotel
chef and the couple later acquired a resort in the Catskills called the
Pleasantview House. Naugle said the resort catered to German clientele
and served German cuisine.

In the winter, Walter Kaseberg worked at hotels in New York, Washington, D.C. or Maryland.

In 1946, Kaseberg said that Walter became
the head chef at the Gettysburg Hotel. President Dwight Eisenhower had a
farm nearby and often would host events at the hotel. Naugle said that
when help was short, she would be called on to wait tables and fill in.
“I got to meet Eisenhower and Richard Nixon,” said Kaseberg.

Despite the success they found in America,
Kaseberg never forgot the family she left behind in Germany. “My part
of Germany is East Germany,” she said. It was 30 years before Kaseberg
was able to return to Germany to visit her mother and two sisters in
1958.

“That is a very important part of my life,” Kaseberg said, her look turning serious, the smile disappearing momentarily.

The family had stayed in touch. Kaseberg
showed a picture of her mother and three daughters. Her sisters had
married and started families.

According to Naugle, her mother and father
kept the family alive in their motherland. She said the Kasebergs sent
packages to the family through the Red Cross for 10 years. “She sent
these packages monthly to sustain these two families,” said Naugle.

On her visit to Germany, Kaseberg got a
special gift from her family. Because her intention was to return after
five years, she had left her hope chest at home. Her family’s apartment
building was destroyed during the fire bombing of Dresden in World War
II.

When her family searched through the
rubble, the only items that remained from her hope chest were a cup and
saucer from her porcelain set. She was served coffee and cake with the
only two pieces left from her hope chest. She showed them off while
telling her story.

While telling her stories, Kaseberg seems
to wonder about the fuss over her impending 100th birthday. “That’s not
anything great and glorious,” she said. Her daughter disagreed. “We’re
in awe,” she said.

Kaseberg remembers her late husband saying
they should have traveled out West. “He’s got a point there,” she said.
“There’s a lot of America we haven’t seen.” She added, “I’m glad and
thankful to the lord to live here in Perry County. I couldn’t live
nicer.”